Dawn of a New World
by KiahTrickster
Summary: In the aftermath of the occupation Terra Nova faces new challenges as they continue to adapt to their new world and fight to preserve it's beauty. To preserve the dream that lead them through the portal, with different goals than their enemies who struggle to cope with their fate, the colony explores new possibilities as their world shifts again. A Wash/Taylor story...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I write for fun, no copyright infringement intended.

 _A/N: The prompt for this story came from niccunningham. It is not related to my previous Terra Nova stories. I've written new back stories for the main characters (at least different from the ones I've used before)._

 **Dawn of a New World**

Chapter One

He stood on the balcony, taking a moment to breathe as the sun rose; dawn was breaking but Commander Taylor had yet to sleep. In the aftermath of their return there was a great deal to do, the colony was beginning to rebuild, they were assessing their resources as patrols shadowed the Phoenix moving North.

Guzman was leading that, and without Wash it meant he was truly on his own here, he had Shannon, but the man was a cop; he only followed orders when it suited him. But he could think on his feet and so he'd been assigned to oversee the reconstruction details. Reilly was heading the work on the fence and overseeing the teams replacing their perimeter mines; thankfully the Phoenix hadn't found all of their supplies.

Their resources had taken a hit along with the rest of the colony, but they had some weapons, and most of their science equipment. Terra Nova would survive, with the price twenty-seven soldiers, his second included, had paid it had to. The Phoenix and the Sixers would not strip mine this place to line their pockets; civilization started fresh here or they died trying.

He was trying hard not to think about Wash, the knot it but in his gut was almost paralyzing and he had nowhere to turn; no one here knew just what she had been to him. Far more than a second or a comrade, his son had finally crossed the line; Lucas would die for what he had done. He would perish along with the soldiers who came to destroy this place, the first war for Terra Nova was far from over; and he didn't intend to lose.

Nathaniel Taylor pushed upright and turned back to his office, he needed to look at the construction plan for incorporating the power grid into the fence; they could not share any of the resources that they had worked so hard to develop. The Phoenix came here for war, a short-term project before they went home rich; they didn't have the supplies to sustain themselves here and they wouldn't be tapping into Terra Nova's.

...

The Commander sat at his desk, he looked exhausted and while Elisabeth wanted her news to lift his spirits, she feared it would only anger him more. They had arrived home yesterday, she had returned to the infirmary this morning and been hit with request after request; only this afternoon Nurse Ogawa had stopped her. Leading her to the back corner of the ward Elisabeth had stared for a moment, confused at the significance of the woman in the bed; the infirmary was busting at the seams with the ill and injured.

It was only as she realized the significance of the bruises and swelling that disfigured her face; the injuries were concentrated to her head. As Elisabeth gently brushed long dark hair back, she knew, she swallowed hard; relief and horror racing through her. Alicia Washington was alive, barely recognizable, but alive and breathing on her own.

"Does Commander Taylor know?" She demanded as she pulled up the diagnostic screen and patient data on the bed; wishing she had been told immediately.

"I don't think so." Nurse Ogawa responded quietly. "It has been so busy today. She was brought here the morning after your family escaped, she had been left for dead, but a civilian brought her in. I put her back here and put another name on her record. She hasn't regained consciousness yet, but she is responsive to pain."

"I am just glad she is alive." If she was responsive then there were things that could be done, the fact she was breathing on her own and had been for days now was a very good sign. A coma was sometimes the body's way of protecting itself, of taking time to heal; Lieutenant Washington had a lot of healing to do.

Elisabeth had run her own diagnostic and changed the IV before heading for the Command Center. Commander Taylor needed to know, he should have known as soon as they got back, but Nurse Ogawa had been smart not to let too many know that she was alive. Lucas Taylor or the Phoenix might have decided to finish her before leaving the colony had they realized, but the infirmary was so full they hadn't even known she was there.

Knocking softly before entering Elisabeth chose her words carefully; she had seen how this man grieved his friend. "There has been a development in the infirmary."

"Dr. Shannon if you need more resources, you'll have them; at least as much as we have." The man sighed, barely looking up; Elisabeth smiled sadly. He was a firm man, but he was easy to respect as a leader; and he had always prioritized the healthcare of Terra Novans.

"It isn't about resources, it is something you should see for yourself…" She started, trying to pique his curiosity enough to get him moving; it would be far better for him to see her with his own eyes than to be told. But Mark stepped in and nodded to her as he stepped around awkwardly.

"Sir, Guzman is on the radio; an urgent report." Maddie's boyfriend spoke quickly, hands clasped behind his back; focused on his task.

The Commander reached for the crackling radio on the desk and adjusted the dial, the radio had a longer range than the comms, and spoke into it. A moment later the static flowed back along with a man's voice. 'Phoenix convoy is under attack; they've lost two rhino's now. Slashers…"

It cut out and Elisabeth glanced between the two soldiers, Taylor spoke again. "Say again about Slashers Guz."

'At least six, harassing the back of the convoy, they're in dense jungle; can't get speed to avoid them.' The man repeated his message and Taylor nodded, not looking too concerned about it. The radio transmission continued with a few more details before cutting out.

"Never thought I'd be grateful for Slashers." He muttered, dismissing Mark Reynolds with a nod as he rose and marked the location on a map. "They're taking their time."

His fingers traced the map and Elisabeth drew closer; she knew the man had a lot on his mind right now. But she would add one more thing. "Sir, I do need you to come to the infirmary."

"Alright Doc." The man sighed.

Elisabeth led him back to the infirmary and through the ward to the bed in the very back corner. The man frowned at her as he looked at the woman in the bed, she saw the moment he realized it was Lieutenant Washington.

"She is alive?" His question was soft even as his fingers curled around her wrist; a method he had likely used too many times before.

"She is. The only explanation I can give is that Lucas' weapon must have malfunctioned." Elisabeth answered slowly.

"A direct hit, at point blank range should have killed her." The man murmured softly, his thumb traced the stitches in her scalp. "The recoil pulled the shot up, but still…"

"You think anyone trusts that lunatic with a fully functioning weapon?" Several beds over a voice boomed, an enemy soldier who had also been unconscious added, he was now awake, and the guards moved to silence him. "That weapon is capped. The man goes into a fit whenever he doesn't get his own way..."

Commander Taylor signaled to the soldiers who shut the man up, but he was silent for a moment, giving the man an ice blue stare. "He is well enough to talk, he is well enough to move to the brig."

The soldiers nodded, hauling him up between them; Elisabeth didn't protest. She would insist upon checking him over later but for now she thought it best not to argue with the Commander. The man did not go quietly. "Lucas Taylor only thinks he's running things. Who do you think has the money to fund this operation? Why do you think we came here?"

"He's not wrong." The commander murmured quietly. "There was no blood, an old-fashioned bullet would have blown through her skull, and I've only ever seen Lucas with a sonic, he's had minimal weapons training; he wouldn't know if it was capped anymore than he knows how to hold his aim."

Elisabeth waited, she had been expecting more of a reaction, but he gave very little. His comm chattered and the man pulled it out, setting it aside as he stared; focused on the woman in the bed. He didn't move away from her; his fingers carefully explored the stitches now; eyes assessing the damage in detail. The whole of her face was black and blue, but the worst of the swelling was to the upper right side of her head; around the area where her scalp had split.

Moving closer Elisabeth tapped the diagnostic screen. "Her scalp lacerated from the back, the swelling makes it look worse. We won't know the exact extent of the damage until she wakes up, but this is not her first traumatic injury."

He almost snorted as Elisabeth pulled up her record, it was her turn to cough softly; she had expected there to be a list. She hadn't expected it to be quite that long; there were very few details.

"She was spec ops Doc, if you need details, you'll need my code." The man muttered as her eyes scanned the list dating back to 2129. "What's she feeling?"

Lieutenant Alicia Washington was only thirty-seven years old; her medical log might have more entries than the number of years she had been alive. There were a few concussions listed and that was worrying, but little more than a decade ago she had sustained a serious injury; there had been spinal interaction then as well.

"An old bullet rips through whatever it hits, that creates the damage. A sonic hit short circuits the body, it effects all systems; we can assume she will be feel the full effect of it. Her memories will be jumbled, she may have joint stiffness and pain; the rest we will know when she wakes." He knew what that meant, she was sure the Lieutenant knew as well.

"I've never been on the receiving end of a head shot but coming around from a body hit hurts like hell." The man murmured, watching as she began a battery of tests; ideally these would have happened earlier.

But they had wanted little attention drawn to this bed, and the procedures were not within the nurses' scope of practice. Elisabeth's practice came from where she had worked before stepping through the portal; people turned weapons on each other all to often in the world they'd left behind.

"When will she wake up?"

"Scans are not abnormal; well considering." She switched screens, she didn't bother explaining for the Commander; he would rather have answers. "I cannot guarantee when she will wake, but we will help her as much as we can."

"You do that doc, and I want to know as soon she wakes up." The man paused, his hand touching Washington's arm again. "I will be back."

…

He left the infirmary quickly, slipping around the side of the building; his throat closing. He had barely recognized her, he'd seen Wash in just about every situation imaginable; but she looked just about as close to death as he'd seen her. He had seen the shot she took, he'd seen her hurt far too many times.

"Sir." The young soldier seemed hesitant to disturb his thoughts, holding out his com. "You are wanted on the north side, Mr. Shannon wants to discuss something."

He nodded, the job did not stop, and he sighed. Dr. Shannon had expected him to be relieved that Wash was alive, because she was his friend and his comrade; but the woman had no idea. With him and Wash there was what the colonists believed, what they saw on a daily basis and what went on behind closed doors; Alicia Washington was not just his second in command.

Silently he turned and headed towards the north sector, forcing his attention on the colony and on the work that he and Wash had poured their lives into. He joined Shannon in the rubble of the fence and what had once been the new construction; homes intended for the pilgrimage that had changed everything.

The buildings were destroyed now and given the Phoenix had arrived Terra Nova would be accepting no more colonists. The portal had been destroyed on both ends, and they would figure out exactly what that meant; but it had bought them time and sent their enemies running to the Badlands.

"This area borders the agricultural sector. Commander these places are destroyed, we could mine out the rubble and repurpose the area as we repair the fence." Shannon explained as they walked.

Nathaniel listened, he didn't say anything as the man's comments shifted to the extent of the damage. It was not new to him, he'd seen the devastation of war before; he had hoped not to see it here. But as he looked at it, he understood why Wash had surrendered, she would have seen exactly what he did; with this much damage it would have been suicide to try and hold off. Not without support, and he'd had a good part of the unit she trained in the jungle. And the loss of life would have ate at Wash, she had trained every single one of those kids when they came through the portal; for survival and for the security force.

It ate at him, they had lost many in this battle and it was only the first; the war was far from over. A great deal would hinge on what happened in the next few rounds, but he did not intend to lose this war. The land could be cleared, and once the fence was rebuilt it would be repurposed, Shannon was right; the expansion of their colony would slow dramatically now.

"We've cleared the land beyond the fence, but the jungle grows fast; where else is there holes in the fence?"

"The gate sustained heavy damage; it needs to be a priority, there is damage here, but it is from the structures being bombed." Shannon explained, knowing he had seen the damage as they returned.

"Keep your crews together and stay sharp; my men will do the same."

He headed back to the command center, he wanted to go back to the infirmary, but he needed to review the security tasks; he wanted the northern perimeter mines up and running as soon as possible. The fence was damaged on that side and the Badlands, their enemy's presumed destination lay to the north as well.

And they were spread out, there were extra guards on the towers, the team out with Guzman and the teams working OTG to re-establish their perimeter. When he finally did make it back to the infirmary shift had changed and word was spreading; he could feel eyes on his back as he moved to her bed.

There was no change, her eyes didn't open, and her body didn't react; she had no idea he was there. Dr. Shannon came by, urging him to try talking to her, reassuring him that it might take time for her to wake; but he knew the reality was the longer it too the greater the probability was that she would not wake.

Late that night he did go home, stepping into his unit for the first time since he'd left to meet the tenth. The place had been destroyed, likely searched by the Phoenix and the Sixers, cold fury slid through his veins as he went back to the bedroom and opened the bottom cupboard of the nightstand.

It had been upended and the loose contents strewn across the floor; and the wood scorched. But the safe within was still sealed, and that was satisfying. The few important keepsakes he had were in there, the rest were just things and they could be repaired or replaced. Even as exhaustion threatened to overtake him Nathaniel set about putting things back together.

Righting the bed and then the night stands on either side and sorting out the things that belonged in each; at least the things that could be kept. A framed photo of Ayani and Lucas, taken when his son was still a small boy went on his, the lamp was broken and so was the plex but he found the tattered paperback book that belonged on the other under a pile of things pulled from the closet.

Who ever had searched this place would have clued in to his private life, it wasn't a hard connection to make; but it wasn't likely they could have learned the extent of the situation. He spent several hours putting things back together before he slipped out the back door into the small fenced garden, and across to the unit next door; punching in the code reflexively. The units were close, and the shared yard fenced in, a fact few would realize about Wash was she loved this space and had personalized it as soon as the units were theirs. And things did grow quickly here, in the years they had been here the trees and bushes she had transplanted in their first year had blossomed and grown; making their space quite private. Which in turn simplified their lives, the units were among the first built when the area they had cleared was much smaller; at least that was the reason they had given for constructing the two units so close together.

Her unit had been tossed as well, he moved through to the workout room, few would know Alicia Washington was more than a skilled soldier; she was a carpenter of sorts. While he had followed a long line of his family members into the military Wash had bucked tradition and followed a less respected route; at least in the eyes of her family. She had been raised in a commune of sorts, but rather than join the community Alicia Washington had rebelled and joined up.

Years later he had learned that she was far from the first, and her reasons had been much greater than simple rebellion; she had been living out her older brother's dream. But Alexander Washington had not had the courage to buck tradition, and instead had joined the community and vowed a life of peace; and lost his will to live. When illness swept through the commune he had died with many others, leaving his young sister by his bedside; committed to changing the toxic world that had claimed him.

The unit was a standard three bedroom, built to the specifications decided in the future, one bedroom served as that, though it was rarely used, the wall between the other two had been knocked out to create a large workout area. In the room that served as a workout space he went to the closet, but rather than grab onto the door knob he ran his fingers along the frame; looking for the latch.

He had watched her build this and watched her stow her gear here shortly after she finished. The dead space had been created by blocking off the closet in the second room and adjoining the two; he pulled out the partition and then opened the door and stepped in. Nearly sighing in relief; they hadn't found her stash.

Wash broke the mold, raised by people who believed in peace, she loved a fight; beating the odds. He'd thrown her in the bull pen to toughen her up as a rookie, but Alicia Washington had loved it there. They'd risked their lives in spec ops but after the water wars nearly sixty years ago emphasized the need for skilled soldiers the pay grades had changed; it was also the last time that a member of Wash's family served in the military.

She collected weapons, some were old and others modern; but more importantly were her old journals stacked on a shelf. Information was key now, and in her slanted hand writing Wash had recorded her first impressions of this world from the day she arrived forward; there would be one in her nightstand now. And the Phoenix had none of it.

He took a stack of them and closed the partition, turning his attention to putting the place back together. Most of the furniture Wash had made herself, various colonists had pieces in their homes as well; not that they knew who had made them. But it made seeing the damage worse, how many evenings had he spent sitting in the back garden watching her work; usually talking shop.

Finally, he did drop into bed, and didn't wake until his comm crackled just before dawn. He could do with a couple more hours down, but he fumbled for the comm. "Taylor. Go."

"Lieutenant Washington is awake." Jim Shannon sounded as groggy, but the man's words got him moving. "Elisabeth is heading over to the infirmary now."

"Ten-four." The night shift must have called for the doctor, that could be bad; either way he was going to see her. He dressed quickly and stuffed his feet into his boots.

The doctor beat him to the infirmary, curtains had been drawn around the bed at the back and he could hear her voice; trying to soothe Wash. He slipped into the little cubicle and nearly snarled. Dr. Shannon had a hand on Wash's shoulder as the woman strained against the straps around her wrists.

Wash was terrified, and Elisabeth Shannon had no idea how dangerous that was. Brown eyes wide with panic, she fought the doctor and he realized Wash didn't recognize her and as he moved closer, laying his forearm across her chest; she didn't know him.

"Wash, calm down." He spoke firmly, the doctor had soft and gentle covered; but Wash froze. "You're alright, lay still for us."

She complied, eyes still wide and body tense; Dr. Shannon looked at him. "She recognized your voice, keep talking to her."

"You can't keep her restrained." He murmured, the doctor had shifted, pulling up the diagnostic screen; Dr. Shannon didn't know her past.

She would fight, and she had reason, Alicia Washington had been a prisoner captured when a psych-ops unit rolled a hallucinogen through their camp; the unit had gotten her back. But they had had messed with her head, and waking up tied to a bed, confused and sore; it would remind her of the past.

"Take it easy Wash, let the doctor patch you up." He spoke firmly, she'd been shot before and he'd been by her bed before; but this morning he hid his own fears. "You did a good job of racking yourself up this time."

"Do you where you are?" Dr. Shannon asked quietly.

She didn't answer but jerked against the binding roughly, the straps were soft but she was abrading her wrists. Nathaniel slipped the straps on her wrists, in an instant Wash was sitting up. For a split second his chest tightened with hope, she wanted to fight; but immediately pressed her palms to her forehead.

"Easy lieutenant." He murmured, moving closer and letting her lean against his chest. The doctor tried to get her to lay back and he caught Wash's wrist before she could lash out; wrapping an arm around her.

…

She couldn't help the bile that rose in her throat, Elisabeth Shannon had seen a lot of things in her career but watching Lieutenant Washington lean into the Commander's arms with eyes full of fear she felt sick. It had been her family's freedom, her husband's life that had put Washington here.

"This will just help you relax." They had made a mistake in restraining her, she had seen it in Commander Taylor's face, but the night shift had been afraid she would hurt herself. "I need to run some tests."

Lieutenant Washington flinched when the injector touched her skin and looked to the Commander; she was grateful he was here. His voice calmed the woman, and she had known the two had served together a long time; but it made her worry.

Washington did relax and gently the Commander laid her back, when the woman tensed his hand slid into hers; Elisabeth focused on the diagnostic screen. When she moved, gently bending the woman's limbs, her face revealed plenty; there was discomfort with movement.

As dawn broke, she finished the diagnostics, it could have been much worse, but Lieutenant Washington had a long recovery ahead of her. All the side effects of a sonic hit, joint pain, nausea but there were more than physical consequences.

A brief interview gave her a little more insight, the woman was confused, she knew about Terra Nova but wasn't clear that it was her home. The Commander helped her fill in more than a few details when the woman's responses did not make sense, Lieutenant Washington had no memory of the occupation, her memories of the past eight years of her life were mixed with older missions and assignments. Focusing for more than a few moments left the soldier frustrated and upset, it took both her and the Commander to calm the Lieutenant.

"What are you thinking doc?" The man followed her back to the desk.

"She needs to rest." Elisabeth murmured, updating the chart and making additional notes; she did not want the woman upset by strangers poking their heads in and doing checks. She would monitor her for the day and assign one person for tonight. "As she recovers, we will know more, I believe as soon as we know that she is stable being in her own home will help."

The Commander nodded and left, she knew he would be working with her husband again today; she could hear the colony being rebuilt. At lunch she slipped in, watching the woman pick at the food provided, not seeming surprised by the options of fruit and vegetables but tense; silently watching right back.

Elisabeth moved to sit on the edge of the bed, she struggled for the right words. Alicia Washington had been willing to sacrifice her life for her family, she had made the choice, but it was likely she would never remember. Was it right to tell her?

She saw fatigue in the woman's features, fighting to sit up now; gently she touched the woman's shoulder. "Lay back now. Lieutenant you need to rest."

"What aren't you saying?" The woman eyed her silently; body tense. "What is wrong with me?"

"You've taken a head shot from a sonic. I know things aren't making much sense right now but in time they will." She deserved those answers, the first questions she had asked since waking; but there was so much more.

"I should be dead then." The woman frowned, shifting to look at her hands folded on the bed sheets.

"I am very glad that you are not." Elisabeth dropped onto the edge of the bed; taking her hands. "You saved my family and you helped save the colony. Listen, you are second in command of the colony and you are important to all of us. I know things are jumbled right now but you know that the side effects will pass, and we will help you put things back together. We know what has happened recently and Commander Taylor knows your past."

The information seemed to settle her, and Lieutenant Washington lay back; Elisabeth watched until she drifted back to sleep. Over the next few days short conversations provided insight into the woman's mind, but it was the Commander who understood and was able to sort out what she was saying. Elisabeth spent most of the time listening and watching vital responses, focusing was still a struggle and now that they were getting her up and around, they knew she still had some numbness and weakness in her limbs.

The soldier struggled to remember the months leading up to the tenth pilgrimage, it was the Commander who was able to settle her as soldiers and civilians volunteered to try and help fill in what they could. Elisabeth quietly discouraged them, the woman became frustrated when she could not put things together, and her strength was returning; she suspected it was time to let her go home.

...

 _A/N: Hang in with me, I refuse to write a story where Lucas succeeds in killing Lt. Washington, this will get interesting (I hope), and it goes in a different direction than some of my other projects._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Mom." Maddy called, stepping out of her room as Elisabeth turned; recognizing concern in the young woman's voice. "I was looking up Lieutenant Washington's service record, Mark and I were talking and…"

Maddy broke off, Elisabeth only nodded. The entire colony knew the soldier was alive, and that she was struggling, that struggle was very personal to a lot of them because of what the woman's actions meant to the colony; in this house even more so. The kids had gone with Jim to visit the other night, she wasn't sure who had been more confused; her family or the Lieutenant.

Alicia Washington could remember Terra Nova, she knew it was her home and could recall a lot of the challenges they had faced in setting it up; although the events were not in order. But it was around the tenth pilgrimage, their pilgrimage, that things became blank. The woman accepted Elisabeth as a doctor but still gave no indication of remembering her; Jim and the kids had received a similar reaction.

Zoe had gone racing up to the bed for a hug, startling the Lieutenant from a nap, thankfully the woman's reflex time was recovering or else her youngest might have been tossed backwards. The Lieutenant had looked from face to face blankly and nodded as she introduced them, as though they were meeting for the first time.

While she hoped that other memories would begin to fall into place, Elisabeth suspected the tenth pilgrimage, and the months before the occupation would remain the boundary. Even the Commander could not jog current events out of her, the incident with the nesting grounds had amused her and concern had crossed her face at the mention of Skye being the spy but there had been no recognition.

She knew Zoe had been disappointed, but it struck deeper for Jim who very much felt he owed her their lives. For Maddy it was colored by Mark Reynolds' relationship with the Lieutenant, the woman was his CO, but the young man looked up to her as a mentor. Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Washington had left the future as highly decorated war heroes, the Lieutenant as an especially young one, it was the young soldiers who would tell of their past acts much more than either of those two.

Mark had told them more than a few stories the past few evenings, but she had realized, listening to the two of them piece the Lieutenant's memories together; what the public knew about their actions only scratched the surface. Most of their careers remained classified, the Lieutenant's clearest memories seemed to be of injuries, her own and of soldiers she had patched up over the years; the Commander's descriptions offered a lot of insight.

In the field Washington was all that unit had, behind enemy lines there was no pulling back to a tent hospital or evacing out unless they could make it to their check points. The Commander had revealed that at one point there had been a reward on her head, for the enemy soldier who could confirm a kill; he had smiled when that made the soldier laugh.

"Lieutenant Washington is married." Maddy whispered, holding out her plex.

Elisabeth frowned, she hadn't had cause to look up the soldier's personal details, any time she had faced a question the Commander had known the answer; and the man always seemed to be able to make the time. Next to an ID image the stats listed Lieutenant Alicia C. Washington as married, Elisabeth tapped the stat, but it did not open a link.

"Maddy, Lieutenant Washington had a personal life before Terra Nova." She thought of what she had heard those two talking about, their careers contributed to the safety of their country and now the colony; but the cost was high. "With the way she lives she might have kept any loved ones very private."

"But if she's married, she shouldn't have to be alone, she shouldn't be here alone; other soldiers brought their…" Maddy stopped and Elisabeth stepped closer as her daughter made the connection.

Other soldiers had brought their families, spouses, children and even a few parents or grandparents were mixed in. Though it was odd that there was no file on her partner the fact Lieutenant Washington lived alone was a clear answer. But it was odd that in all the topics covered a partner had never come up.

"Trust me Maddy, she isn't alone now." And it was encouraging to know that the woman wasn't going to be left alone either.

Elisabeth had known the woman was a good medic, but she hadn't realized the scope of the woman's capabilities until Casey Durwin turned up; adamant he see her. Casey Durwin had seen her, and he'd had an opinion on keeping her cooped up in a hospital too. The man felt much the same way she did, although the Lieutenant had saved his life in a different way.

She had swallowed hard when she realized exactly why the man had such a strong opinion on his care. Once Elisabeth had asked about his legs, the scars were rough and there was the technology to reattach limbs available. Casey had lost his legs to a dinosaur, not a carnotaurus, but nykos; Washington had closed and cauterized his wounds in the field. There had been no limbs available to reattach and the man had been second pilgrimage, only here a few weeks when the incident occurred; when they were twenty hours away from the colony.

The man firmly believed that with any other medic he wouldn't have survived, Elisabeth suspected he might have been right. She wasn't even sure she would have thought to use fire to stem the bleeding, that technique was ancient history and it was risky. But tourniquets could have come loose, and the way the man told it they had been several hours from their transports as well; Boylan, Washington and another soldier had taken turns carrying him on their backs for at least part of the way.

Casey was a driving force for the colonists who wanted her released, and as a soldier the man understood the side effects of a sonic; and Washington's mindset. There was no question of the woman being able to recover physically or coping at home. But Elisabeth had concerns about well meaning colonists trying to help the Lieutenant remember. Yet she had also thought that being at home, in her own space might help the woman.

…

It was Dr. Shannon who made the decision to send her home and she spent the afternoon getting her settled in her unit. He was relieved he had taken the time to put it back together, Wash was struggling as it was; and that was a factor in the doctor's decision. He had wanted to take the time to be there with her, but a mine crew had come across signs of a small camp, recently used; only a few clicks north of the colony.

He spent his afternoon out with a team, it was certainly a scout camp; Guzman's reports had the Phoenix and the Sixers in the Badlands now. They must have some reservations about finding their way home in the northern desert and given they had abandoned the portal site established down here he had a few questions of his own.

When he got home, hot and tired he debated going to check on Wash but decided he'd have a shower first; the doctor was probably still with her. The past few days had been difficult, they were rarely alone and in moments when he caught Alicia Washington watching him with questions in her eyes, he was never sure what exactly she was thinking.

With a towel wrapped around his waist he slipped into the bedroom and got a clean set of clothes. The doctor would want to go home to her own family and it would give him some time alone with Wash; there were a few other memories he wanted her to sort out. A soft sound made him pause.

He turned as she stepped through the door, his heart soared as he turned and saw her. Reaching out, his thumb resting under her chin, drawing her in. Closing his eyes as he inhaled her scent, their lives so tightly entwined, even if the true depth of it was theirs alone.

But as she pulled back, confusion in her eyes Nathaniel sighed; right now, it was his secret to keep. He knew he should be thankful he wasn't to be a widower for a second time; and yet if she had no memory of their life together in a way he was. Theirs was not the most romantic of stories, their marriage an agreement made in the months of planning for this mission eight years ago; it had been based on friendship and respect.

 _In the dark bar he sipped his drink, idly wondering if she would show; let alone hear him out. He figured he was either going to get his way or he was going to be sore tomorrow; Washington wasn't exactly a subtle woman._

 _This was a dive, it was a popular with the military, but quiet this early in the evening. It wasn't his scene, he preferred a quiet drink at home, but he needed to talk to Wash before the brass got a decision out of her. Nathaniel Taylor had his assignment and he knew the risks, but his imagination was already running away with the possible rewards; it was a war he wanted to fight._

 _People trickled in, pulling off their rebreathers as they stepped into the filtered air; the room still stank. He shifted as a rebreather was plunked down along with a beer; Wash had slipped in with the last group and gone straight to the bar._

 _"Starting to wonder if you were going to show." He took another sip of his whiskey as she popped herself up onto the stool across from him._

 _She only nodded, knowing his question was rhetorical; Taylor knew full well she would be here. Alicia Washington shifted on her stool, he had picked a table where he could have his back to the wall; but it meant hers was to the room. He hooked his foot around the leg of her stool, drawing her glare as he dragged it around the side of the table._

 _He watched her take a swig of beer, her throat moving as she swallowed. Wash was strong, and she was young; she had every reason to shoot him down on all fronts. There was a very good chance this new project was a suicide mission; the brass was certainly concerned that it could be. That was the only reason it would be volunteer based._

 _"Philbrook get in touch with you yet?" He knew the man had intended to reach out to her; that he wanted her with him._

 _"Yeah." She took another swig, already half way through the tube._

 _"If you stay the unit will be yours." If she stayed, she could take over the team she knew, the men she'd patched up and fought beside for years; there would probably be a promotion in it too._

 _"I'm with you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Whatever comes."_

 _Nathaniel nodded, it made him sit a little straighter; maybe he had a chance. "Have you told them that yet?"_

 _Wash shook her head. "I've got seventy-two before they want my decision."_

 _"When we get there, we can't come back." He murmured quietly. "There won't be a break, and very little space, it won't be the same as it is with the unit."_

 _"If we survive at all." She smiled slightly, Wash always liked a fight; didn't matter what kind._

 _It was hardly the first time they'd be up against the odds, but there would be no brass; no orders coming down. Command decisions would come from them, the soldiers that followed them deserved their best; failure was not an option he would accept._

 _"Every soldier, every colonist that follows will be your subordinate." He eased towards his question. "Mine too. But Wash I need an outlet and I want one."_

 _"Sir?" Her face tipped towards him, she was following his train of thought._

 _"I'm not afraid to be shot down Wash; but I've got a very narrow opportunity to try." Wash had stood beside him for everything, and she understood him in a way no one else could. She knew what the loss of Ayani had done to him, she had mourned her friend beside him; but her suffering had saved lives._

 _They got along, in truth he got along better with her than with some of the men in the unit, she had never been interested in partying, and she had an active mind. Wash could follow an order and she was not afraid to defy him, she knew how to do it, but there was no one he would rather have in his corner in a fight; no matter the odds. They had spent more time together over the past decade than with anyone else, he'd taken her on as a rookie; they'd survived a war together._

 _"Marry me. We work; we both know that." He would never forget Ayani or the sacrifice she had made for their son, but Wash knew that, and Wash was a big part of the reason one of them had survived. "On shift nothing changes, off shift we are partners; we can relax without secrets."_

 _For a moment she was silent, finishing her drink before brown eyes focused on his face. "And the regs?"_

 _"As of today, you are spec ops and I am on the Terra Nova project; they're separate branches." She didn't shoot him down or laugh. He was more than a decade older than her, she had baby sat his son on occasion and been friends with his first wife. "We put the licence through before you sign on and there is little they can do."_

 _"They can pull the offer on my side."_

 _"They won't, I doubt they will even care, they're assigning us late in the game; we ship through that portal in three months." There was a chance they wouldn't even catch it; his paperwork was processed and so was her offer._

 _Silence hung between them until he considered offering her an out. Wash had never had a problem speaking her mind to him, not when they were off duty; but then this was different. Maybe it wasn't fair, he wasn't asking her because they were in love. They were friends, a friendship forged as comrades, in time it might become something more, but he knew he would not have another chance. There wasn't going to be another woman who understood him and who had shared in what he had seen. And that shared experience mattered to him, Wash had seen war, she knew the people they had lost, and she still cared._

 _"I suppose marriage would satisfy your honor code." She rolled her eyes at him, and he winced slightly; she might be right. He would feel better if it was official, even if their superiors would likely prefer an arrangement that was easier to ignore; he couldn't hold his soldiers to one standard and live by another. "I'm with you Taylor."_

 _Nathaniel had been a little relieved, they had married quietly the next day, the licence had been processed and for awhile they believed it had gone unnoticed. It was not until they were making final preparations, going through the plans for the supplies that would be shipping through with them that Philbrick revealed that he knew._

 _"You two need separate units, I don't care if there is five feet between them, you will maintain the illusion of decorum; your marriage will remain secret. I've sealed the record." He warned as he reviewed the detailed plans for their first year._

He smiled at the memory, the shock she hadn't managed to hide and the smirk on Philbrick's face; he'd been right. His mentor oversaw the project, and he could care less; their service records spoke for them. In the past three months they had told no one of their choice, there was no one who had needed to know. For them love had come in a gradual way, but it hadn't taken long.

In retrospect he wondered if Lucas knew somehow, if that night in the square his son had known that killing Wash would come close to destroying him; more effective than any weapon. She was a constant in his life, when he had lost Ayani he had her support, when thing with Lucas got rough, she was there; it was her last request to the Shannons that had pushed him on. And when they returned to the colony, it was work that distracted him from grief, knowing the moment he stopped it would hit him, he would not let her death be for nothing, until the moment Elisabeth Shannon guided him to her hospital bed.

But she was healing now, and while it was frustrating to have her retreating from their home; she was alive. He followed her quietly, punching in the code to her back door, the same way she must have done a few moments ago. He found her pulling on her jacket, still a little unsteady.

"I need to move." She murmured as he crossed to her side.

"Let's go for a walk then." He understood that, she was never one to sit still for very long and she'd been cooped up in a hospital bed for days on end.

Long dark hair hung down her back and gently he helped her with the thin jacket; he let his hands drift over her shoulders. She had gotten a walking stick of sorts from somewhere and it helped her keep her balance as they started out on the patrol route along the fence.

"How far do you want to go?" He asked after awhile, he'd slowed his pace a little, but they had walked quietly together and were nearly halfway around the loop.

"I want to finish it." She murmured, determination in her voice; he should have known she wouldn't want to give up.

But as they came through the north end her brow knit, eyes scanning the damaged exterior fence and the rubble that crews had yet to clear away. The patrol path had been cleared and there were patches to the fence, but it was far from secure, he wondered what she was thinking as she looked from the damaged rubble in to the orchards of their agricultural sector. This would have been a nice neighborhood to live in, now it would be reclaimed for farming.

"When we were first building our units, I remember how you carefully transplanted the trees into our back yard; well before we knew the project would expand to the point we would have these fields." He reminded her of that period shortly after the second pilgrimage arrived and he had crushed her suggestion of living separately so Lucas could live with him.

Needless to say, his son had never wanted to live with him and so they designed a way that they could live together while maintaining the appearance of space. They were certainly not the only ones who decided not to divide their yards, enjoying the space they hadn't been able to have before; though for them it provided a private path between the units they shared.

"I like our yard." She murmured quietly before beginning to move again and kept moving until they made it back around to their units.

He spent the evening with her, sharing a meal and letting her direct the conversation. She bounced between topics, questions from the past were followed by questions about the Phoenix and their current situation. Nathaniel decided to excuse himself, she was trying to focus but she was exhausted; he slipped away and left her to settle for the night.

…

The house was hers, but it didn't feel right. The bedroom was empty, the bed carefully made, and everything was neat but there was nothing personal about it; nothing comforting. Alicia stretched out and tried to sleep for awhile before she rose and slipped out into the back yard, curling up on the bench.

She could see the lights still on in the next unit, he was still up, and she was tempted to join him. There were a lot of things in her mind that were jumbled but she knew Nathaniel Taylor was more than just her CO and friend. Parts of her life were clear, and from the time she was pulled out of the mud of boot camp he'd been there; a lieutenant then.

Other faces blurred, family members angry as she packed a backpack and walked to the transit stop; knowing that the commune was no longer her home; she did not want to take a vow of peace and stand idly by in the world. From then on, she lived in barracks around the world, tent camps and small base quarters. The people around her then were soldiers, names and ranks escaped her now, but some moments were clear.

Sitting under the stars she remembered being a little girl and looking up at the smoggy gray skies with Alex, listening to her older brother dream of a world outside; of their grandfather's stories of the past. Alex's sense of adventure was strong then, and so was he; they used to get into so much trouble. Why was his face so clear when everything else seemed a blur?

He was gone, there were a lot of faces that came to her mind; so many had died. Maybe she was supposed to be with them now. It might be easier, death wasn't picky, it took the good and the evil; bodies whole and destroyed. With the state of her mind, and how she looked it wasn't hard to believe she was supposed to be in a grave somewhere; the Phoenix had certainly intended that. Or Lucas, if her CO was to be believed for her that wasn't even jumbled; it simply wasn't there.

Alicia leaned back on the bench, eyes scanning the shadows full of lush green, this was her home; and she wouldn't give that up. This was a better world, and it was worth fighting for. She would find her balance again, and she would hold onto life here with all she had. It wasn't just Alex's dream she was fighting for, the colony around her had a dream and so did a man she cared deeply for; they'd beat the odds again.

…

Maddy worked quietly taking the samples she had been asked to from the roots of the ancient ferns that her supervisor was testing for antibacterial properties. The realities of their situation had been assessed and now came the practical side of determining how they would survive, and the science department had a massive role to play.

Their connection to 2149 was gone, there were no more supplies coming through, no medicine or tech; no new colonists. There was a massive amount of work to do, she heard her parents talking about it late at night, when they both finally got home that was.

Everyone in the colony was aware of it, even if little was said. It was in the energy, in the way they went about their tasks, no one had forgot the occupation, how hard the security forces had fought to defend their homes; and the price of freedom. And even now there was fear in the air, she had seen the relief in faces when Taylor returned to the colony; they were afraid the Phoenix would turn back on them.

In the horticultural plots Maddy shifted and rose, she heard giggling; looking up to find her little sister and some friends skipping along the path. The children were playing, and she sat back on her heels for a moment, it was good. And they were safe here, there were security towers along the perimeter and Mark was in one of them; he had told her they were all on high alert. When she glanced to the perimeter a lone figure moved along the path patrols used, leaning heavily on a cane.

Maddy quickly looked back to her work, stomach sinking; it was Lieutenant Washington. She should be relieved that the woman was alive, they had all believed the Lieutenant had died helping her family escape; but in away, losing her mind might be worse. The woman who had been Commander Taylor's go to, a fierce soldier in her own right; had led the defense of the colony with only half the strength of their military.

Maddy had looked up her military record, her boyfriend's mentor was the most decorated female soldiers to survive the land wars; making a career in spec ops with Commander Taylor long before Terra Nova. Following her Commanding Officer on what might have been a suicide mission her history in the colony had been no less impressive; working with the men she led to build this colony. Now the woman's memory was gone, she had heard her parents fretting over it at night; her mom didn't think some memories would be recoverable.

When the children's giggles were joined with high pitched squeals and yips Maddy stood up and spotted her sister with the other kids at the edge of plot; in the orchard. Putting her tools aside Maddy wove between the trees to find them, the foliage gave cover but that made her uneasy.

"Zoe, get back!" She grabbed for her sister as she saw the little creatures the kids were crowded around. Pulling her sister back by her arm she urged the others to move away. "Leave it alone."

Her cautions were met with protests. "They're just babies!"

"So cute."

"They may be babies, but we don't know how they got here; or what they are." But by their markings Maddy suspected they were some kind of raptor. However, they shouldn't be in here, the jungle had been cut back, few dinosaurs ventured this close; and these hatchlings shouldn't even be out of the nest.

Suddenly a man burst from the trees, the children screamed, curling back into her side; Maddy turned to see another behind her. Fear raced through her as she tried to hold the kids close, sidling towards the trees as they closed in, one wore a Phoenix uniform but the other looked like a Sixer.

The soldier grabbed for one of Zoe's friends but as he pulled her back the man's eyes went blank; he crumbled forward. Maddy crouched, wrapping her arms around the kids; squishing them together. The Sixer stepped back, his face losing some color even as he raised his weapon and Maddy closed her eyes before he fired.

But the shot didn't come and as she heard the calls of soldiers coming from the towers Maddy opened her eyes to see Lieutenant Washington pushing herself to her feet; unsteadily gripping the trunk of a tree for balance. As Terra Nova's soldiers burst through the trees they paused, looking between the men on the ground and their Commanding Officer; struggling to stand.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Out of respect he gave orders for Wash to come up for the meeting, their perimeter had been breached. He had already dressed down the second shift, they were off now, likely licking their wounds; but it would have been far worse if they'd lost those kids.

The only reason he could think of was ransom, they would have paid whatever supplies were required to get those kids back; it was a tactic the Sixers had used before. But it would have stung and bolstered their enemy's confidence; not a good situation.

Ever since they let her out of the infirmary Wash had walked the patrol routes along their perimeter, she might not be able to remember exactly what she was, but her body knew. He had watched her hobble that route the first morning, the same as she had the other night, they walked it together because she needed to move.

What she didn't remember Nathaniel Taylor did, she'd served beside him most of her career; the best cadet of her year. Ordered to take on a rookie he'd had the pick of the lot, and surprised everyone when he took the girl. But while most knew the military ran in his family, they didn't know it had been his mother's footsteps he had followed into uniform. Wash had been a chance he was willing to take; one that had paid off tenfold.

Now the woman leaned against the far wall, her usual cargo pants and weapon belt were absent, but she still tied her hair back with precision and favored dark tank tops. As others discussed the situation, he studied her, he missed her, they had worked closely for a long time; and he relied on her.

It had only been a few days since she had been released but he knew the longer it took, the less likely it was that her memory would return. He could admit that he was struggling to keep all the pieces together just now. Guzman was out on the patrol following the Phoenix and Shannon wasn't exactly skilled with military administration.

"That sector was badly damaged, it wouldn't have been too hard to sneak in." Shannon sighed as they studied the camp.

"They must have been scouts, we've searched the area and if anyone else was there they've gone now." He added, having overseen that himself.

"And what about the hatchlings? Where did they get the things? What are they?"

"They're Slashers, only two or three weeks old." Malcolm Wallace added. "They will have to be caged for now, they will be excellent research specimens, and then euthanized; when they grow up, they will become impossible to handle. And now that they have had human contact they can't be safely released; they're predators."

"No invasive research, we'll sort out the rest later." He didn't exactly trust Wallace's research ideas, while he wasn't a fan of Slashers, he wouldn't see the critters become the science department's play things. "And we'll double up the patrols, spotters too."

As everyone nodded and began to move out, he watched Wash, she was even stiffer then before; the stairs couldn't have been easy for her. He lay a hand on her arm before she got to the doorway, forcing himself to stop before he crossed the line. They were used to keeping their distance, but it was even more difficult when she had no memory of what they had been.

Taylor walked down with her, at first a steadying hand on her elbow until she leaned on his arm; using him as a crutch along with the stick. "I'm glad you were out there today."

"I'm not an invalid." She said quietly, moving away as soon as they reached the ground; a frown on her face. Wash was watching him and looked away quickly when she realized she was caught.

Before he could say anything else, she left, people moved out of her way as she crossed the square. Barely an hour passed before Malcolm Wallace was on the comm complaining. "We are supposed to be conducting research with the hatchlings, however that is impossible if we cannot have access to them."

"Malcolm." He sighed, the man never failed to be a headache.

But, as he heard Jim Shannon snickering at the conference table across from the desk, he rose; there was no sense arguing over the open comm. Crossing to the science division as he paused before the doors, he heard the distinctive squeaks and growls, following those noises around the side of the building instead.

Wash sat on a bench with the two little creatures at her feet, butting their heads against her shins as she used a knife to cut hunks of meat off a slab she must have bought from the market; tossing them at the hatchlings. Quietly he joined her, now he knew why Malcolm was upset, the scientists were more cautious and watched from inside the building.

Wash glanced at him and cut another chunk of meat off and held it a moment; the babies jumped for it eagerly. When one caught the end of the strip, she let it go. "They're not science experiments."

"No." He was trying to guess where her mind was. "But they are predators."

"So are we." She dropped the last piece of meat and the little critters played tug of war with it. "But for the most part we've managed to carve out our own territory."

He nodded, slightly taken aback; were things starting to fall back into place for her? "We've always taken the approach of conservation, using tranq darts and sonics to drive them away rather than to kill."

"And what approach will the Phoenix take?"

"They do have the option; the gun stores they looted were primarily rigged for tranqs. We can convert any gun into a tranq gun, but we have the slides to switch it back to normal operations; they didn't take the slides." And that had been a relief, the mercenaries had cleared out of here fast once the portal was destroyed, likely hoping to find a new one in the badlands quickly.

The weaponry left in storage was primary designed for dealing with predators. A tranq hit would leave somebody with a nasty hang over, they were less lethal and any weapon the Phoenix didn't have was a good one. But this was a job to them, they only cared for the money that could be made here; not the opportunity of a new world.

"They aren't afraid of human contact." She murmured, reaching down to grab one, quick reflexes kept her from getting bit but when she tucked the critter into her lap it stilled. "And we know they communicate with each other, we know they have some pack mentality; at least for hunting. We could learn a lot from them without any tests."

"They will become dangerous." Nathaniel perked, she knew that, he wondered whether the scientists had been discussing it or she had put it together.

"So are we." She shot him a sly smile, stroking the creature in her lap.

He nodded, leaving her with the young slashers he went in to speak to Malcolm; just a little troubled. He'd known Wash nearly twenty years, he could read her pretty well; but he couldn't figure out exactly what she was thinking with those things. The woman was smart, and she had good sense, he could tell she was making a plan and he was more inclined to give her the time to reveal herself than to cater to the science division.

"Observation only." He cut off Malcolm Wallace's complaint as soon as he stepped in the door. "We learn what we can from watching them grow and watching them interact with each other; no further testing."

"But Commander, with Lieutenant Washington handling them like that we cannot possibly get reliable results and in her current state…" The man drifted off under a hard stare.

"Lieutenant Washington still outranks you and even in her current state she can handle herself." Wash's current state was not exactly clear and would continually change as she healed.

…

She spent a few more taros in the market, bought another fillet of fish that afternoon and took the little slashers back to her unit. The backyard was fenced in, backing onto the interior horticultural plots not too far from the Command Center, the trees and ferns would give the little ones some cover for the night; certainly, better than a cage. Alicia sat on the back step and cut hunks of meat, tossing them to the babies again; they were not nearly as desperate this time.

Inquisitively they sniffed at her and gave her shoes a nip or two; she gave a light kick to discourage their teeth. These little dinosaurs were young enough that they didn't fully understand their world, let alone know how to attack. When she relaxed the one, she had held before took a running jump and landed in her lap; claws digging into her thighs. But then it circled and curled up.

"Is it wise to handle them so much?" She heard his voice and looked up as he stepped into the yard, side stepping a charge at his knees from the other before sitting beside her.

"Probably not, but realistically we can't rehabilitate them. They don't know how to be slashers yet and we don't even know where their parent's territory is to release them." She stroked the one in her lap, it was already the size of her day pack, probably weighing thirty or forty pounds; but it would grow to be a powerful predator. "Is Malcolm whining?"

"He's always whining, but I've got more important work for him just now." He shrugged, not at all concerned by the scientist's demands; he hadn't wanted her to leave with them.

"If they have to be put down, I will do it myself; but they are not a threat yet." Alicia shifted the little slasher in her lap, the barb developing on its tail digging into her leg; the little one gave a contented hum. In truth she wasn't sure what she was doing, but in her jumbled mind there had been a few clear moments since she woke; unable to move.

Hard cuffs held her wrists and ankles to the table, a strap around her middle; voices speaking in a language she couldn't understand. The table had rotated, a needle pushed into her spine, into the back of her neck over and over, her head hurt, and she hadn't been able to think straight. She had been a science experiment for the Russo-Chinese until the unit came for her; her CO had been the one to release her. She had given him a black eye when he freed her wrists, it had been nearly twenty-four hours for the drugs to wear off, it was then she began to recognize the unit she had spent years with. Taylor told her it was 2134, early in the land wars; it felt like yesterday. There were many moments like that, all twisted together, the memory vivid but the order of events impossible to be sure of; with pieces missing.

Commander Taylor was the only member of that old unit she was still with, the others had stayed in the future; she had come back here with him. She still wasn't exactly clear on what he was to her, he was always there, and he mattered but he had Ayani. His wife had been her friend, one of the few women who came around barracks and didn't shy away from her.

She was spec ops, she was one of a handful of women who could say she had always been SO; Taylor had scooped her out of boot camp. She had only been with the unit a week or two when she met Ayani, a petite redhead with sharp green eyes who bossed her CO around without hesitation; holding tight to the hand of a young boy. Taylor treasured them, he was unusual for a military man.

He'd gone back to work and Alicia nudged the young slasher off her lap and crossed the yard to his door; she knew the code instinctively. He was strict, that was typical for a CO, but he controlled far more than her working hours; he expected all the soldiers of his unit to live by an honor code. It wasn't hard, she'd been used to rules; the community had plenty of them.

She had come in here before, he had reached for her; he had expected to hold her. There were so many flashes of memory with him, and it was confusing because she knew this man; she knew how much he loved his wife. But as bare and empty as her place was, this felt like home; the only room in her place that was lived in was the workout area.

Quietly she walked back, opening the door to the office; they had spent hours back here working. It was an escape from the Command Center, here she wasn't his second or his subordinate; they planned and argued here. A map dominated one wall, it had been generated from drone imagery, but details had been added from exploratory projects that started as they began to settle here. It was all marked out and she stepped closer, she had led many of those expeditions; each serving a different purpose.

Those projects had been hard, Casey Durwin had reminded her of that; she remembered the day he lost his legs. She remembered thinking that they would lose him on the way back, they'd lost a few men that way; but then predators had been their only threat. Many people had told her that the Phoenix had come, they wanted her to remember; but she couldn't.

She knew of the Phoenix, mercenaries for hire, they'd been around for awhile, working for whoever could pay the organization had originated during the water wars her grandfather had served in. She had seen one with her own eyes today, but she had seen more in the incident; desperation and fear. The Phoenix liked combat, they'd fire guns and drop bombs; it was where they excelled.

Today's tactics were Sixer, guerrilla warfare meant the Phoenix were adapting; it probably meant that they had to. It meant they hadn't found a way home yet, and they didn't have a way to resupply; the colony would become a target again. But the Sixer had recognized her as he fell, in his face she read fear and just maybe that would give the colony an advantage.

Alicia slipped down to the next door and swallowed hard, mixed emotions flooding in with the memories. She'd made the furniture in this room, Nathaniel had tried to help; but mostly he'd just gotten in the way. But it should not be hers.

It had been many years since Ayani died, she knew that had been 2138, the doctor was concerned about the injuries she had sustained around that time; those days were mostly blank. Somehow, she knew that it was her CO who had told her about those days too. Sometime after that things had changed between them.

A photo of Ayani and Lucas sat on the night stand, it was old as Lucas was still a child in it; she frowned as she recognized the notebooks sitting next to it. They were hers. The stand side was hers, one of those notebooks, it was made from the stems of a plant they used in the infirmary; they grew them for the leaves which had antimicrobial properties.

Sitting on the bed she opened it, the last entry wasn't that long ago. Her hand writing sloped, it was a notation about a patrol she had been on, flipping back she read more; easing onto her side. Alicia read for a time but eventually drifted to sleep; finally sleeping soundly.

...

He stepped into the unit and frowned, the bedroom door was open; stepping back he glanced towards Alicia's unit. There was no movement inside, but the two young slashers prowled about the back door; he could see where they had slept in the ferns. It was only as he saw a shadow on the bed, he realized where she was.

Her boots were still on, he suspected that she hadn't intended to stay; likely putting things together in her own mind. Dropping onto the end of the bed he shifted one of her feet into his lap; Alicia bolted upright. She was confused, but she relaxed slowly as he eased the boot off her foot.

"Have you been sleeping at all?" He took off the other boot and rubbed her leg; she didn't pull away.

"Some. I didn't mean to stay." Alicia sighed, eyes scanning the room.

"You should stay, this is your home; this is our home and being here might help." Or at least he wanted it to help; this was the only home they had shared together. But he saw where her eyes had landed. "I will never forget Ayani, and I cannot forget what happened. But I love you."

"You had to tell me what happened that day." She muttered quietly, looking at her hands. "How did we happen?"

"Slowly." He took her hands, he suspected all the memories of the last twenty years made things a little complicated.

Ayani and Alicia had been better friends than the two of them at the start; Ayani had been thrilled that there was a woman on his unit. Where Ayani was shy Alicia was fearless and where the soldier tended to be reserved the other woman craved excitement. He and Ayani had married young, they'd had their son young too and it was not his rookie who encouraged the trouble those two found; but he'd never had to worry about his wife's safety on their adventures.

"I can't do this, it is all jumbled together, us and her, the two of you; she was my friend." Alicia whispered, he saw the pain in her eyes; and wrapped an arm around her.

"I never figured it would be me who remarried, but she knew I wanted her to be happy even if I had to leave her; I choose to believe she would have wanted the same for me. I know she was thankful for what you did for her; and for our son. She died in a horrible way, but she died knowing her son would live; she wanted that. I know she would have been glad that you did not let losing her unhinge me." Just as he knew Ayani would be horrified at what Lucas had done, at all that he had done; she would have loved Terra Nova and the dream behind it. And he was glad to know Lucas' mother would never know what he had become, what Lucas thought would avenge her. "I am thankful that you have always encouraged me to keep her memory alive; that you have always been there. She was gone four years before we began anything, what we have is based on friendship, trust and time made it something more."

He had lost Ayani in the last year of the land wars, but she had not been left, tortured and mutilated among the dead in base camp that day because his soldier had been in their home. Wash had taken a sonic hit late the night before and he'd left her behind when the unit moved out before dawn for an op. The base was supposed to be safe, it was in an area they had believed was secure; many soldiers brought their families in.

Ayani and Lucas had been excited to come, his work took him away far too often and he hadn't discouraged them. The difference between him and many of the other families was he did not find his loved ones slaughtered in their homes; he was one of only a few who got someone back. He got them back because the enemy had expected civilians and got a soldier.

As best they could piece together was Alicia had delayed them, unwilling to leave unfinished the living civilians had been rounded up and taken along; used as bargaining chips. Ayani and Lucas had not been alone, he had not been the only soldier given such a horrific option; but others came home to find their loved one's tortured bodies. Lucas said Ayani had been tortured, but they had not had the time to kill her that they had on base; he had seen the bodies they left behind. It was months before he returned to combat, but he did have the small comfort of knowing the men who had killed his wife died; after the dictator they had served lost the war.

Wash rested her cheek against his chest, and each time she murmured a memory, sometimes only a few words, he helped her place it. There were moments when it struck him, just how much they had shared even before they married, what he felt her was different from what he had felt for Ayani; but it was not less.

He nearly snarled when his comm chirped, he felt her tense as he tapped it to open the channel; but she didn't move. "Go."

"Have you seen Lieutenant Washington? She was supposed to meet Elisabeth this afternoon for some tests but she didn't show and she isn't home." Shannon's voice rolled into his ear, Wash was close enough to hear and she twisted around him to look at the clock, wincing.

"She's fine." It hadn't been intentional, and the sleep had probably been good for her.

"Could she stop by the clinic tonight?" Shannon asked after a pause, not surprised he knew where she was; the doctor likely wanted to verify his assessment for herself.

"She'll head over now." He confirmed when the woman next to him nodded, Alicia's comm hadn't been replaced since the occupation and her unit had been empty all afternoon; there hadn't been another way to contact her.

As they crossed the living room the little slashers noticed the movement and came to watch through the door. She paused and sighed. "They must be hungry again; I don't even know how often they should be fed."

"Go see the doctor, I will ask Malcolm and pick something up for them at the market." Nathaniel laughed, nudging her towards the door; he had yet to figure out her interest in the little things.

He did go by the science division and the market, as he doubled back towards the infirmary she walked out with the doctor. Nathaniel dropped back, he remembered the hug Zoe had given him when they believed she had died, the little girl had given her a hug in the hospital before realizing that the woman didn't know her.

He knew that Alicia was frustrated, but it was also hard on those who wanted to help; and those who felt connected to her. Dr. Shannon had tried to prepare her family, fully aware that Wash's condition was unpredictable, but the colonists and the unit she had trained were another matter.

They wanted to help her just as much as he did, lengthening his stride Nathaniel waited until the doctor turned towards her own place before catching up. "Malcolm thinks the slashers should eat a little bit every six hours."

"Then they're pretty hungry now." Wash sighed.

"What did Dr. Shannon say?" The doctor ran tests almost everyday.

"Nothing, the scans today were the same as the last set; my problem is in my head." He heard the frustration in her voice and when the gate closed behind them, he rubbed her back; she only tensed for a moment.

"It will get better." He promised, his words drowned out by the squeaks and squeals of the two little slashers racing from their nest to meet them.

He lifted the bag he carried a little higher, handing it over to her as they sat on the back step; he smiled as she slid a knife from her boot. He watched as she cut chunks off, the little slashers ate eagerly; the little female cautiously pulled the strips from her fingers. Both let her touch them, bumping her hand and shins with the protuberances on their heads.

He wondered if they could sense her mood, he could, and he didn't know how to help her. She needed time to heal, but more than that he suspected she needed a sense of balance; this was the longest she'd been off since stepping through the portal. "Come back to work tomorrow."

"Is that a good idea?" She glanced at him, eyes flat.

"Yes." There were a few months blank in nearly twenty years of service, he would help her where her memory failed.

He suspected it was easier to cope with the physical limitations on her body; she knew what to do there. She spent a lot of her time walking the patrol routes and using the workout equipment in her unit; trying to ease the stiffness in her body.

Leaving her with the little slashers he put the rest of the meat in the steri bin and took out some xiph kebobs to put on the grill. He wasn't sure if she would come in, but after awhile she did; shoving the knife back into her boot.

It felt good to have her home, and to have her beside him again; finding their rhythm together. In the morning they dressed, and he watched her consider her weapon belt and armor before leaving them on the hook. He didn't comment, she needed to make those choices without pressure; he already knew that her reflexes were reliable.

They fed the little slashers before heading up to the office, he saw the soldiers on duty trying to hide smiles as she walked with him. Today she refused to lean on him, leaning heavily on the rail as the soldiers watched, inside the office he got her to review the drone footage; the patrol in the badlands had sent it up.

Shannon walked in and paused as he saw her, he watched as Wash glanced at the man and gave a quick nod before turning back to her work. Shannon stood for a moment, he knew she didn't remember the man, she was polite but not familiar and more interested in the notes she was making on the drone footage.

Nathaniel motioned the man over to his desk and listened to his report; the work crews would be focused on the north side today. When shift changed more than a few soldiers slipped by; glancing through the open windows. They worked quietly for a few hours before the comm crackled; the north towers calling to each other.

They had a slasher outside the fence, it had braved the mines to pace the fence. He could only think of one reason it would have come and gave order to hold, calling for a scientist to meet them at the fence. Wash rode with him and as he considered whether or not to let her try to climb up to the tower, he heard the distinctive calls of the slasher.

Slashers used that sound to call to each other, to call others for a hunt; they didn't need to climb to the tower. Just outside the fence an injured slasher paced back and forth; Nathaniel frowned. As Dunham climbed down to report he watched it, the thing had locked its attention onto his lieutenant; and she was watching it right back.

"It keeps making that sound, but we have no other large heat signatures in range; it is badly wounded." The young man reported, glancing to the fence as Wash approached it; they both watched her lean on the rails. The slasher fell silent.

The creature scented the air as the science rover rolled up, Malcolm and his sidekick took their time getting out; casting long looks at the dinosaur. Neither were keen to approach, the slasher was still studying Washington, the soldier stared right back as the creature tilted its head inquisitively; did it smell it's hatchlings on her?

"Please tell me we are going to put that thing out of its misery." Malcolm muttered as the slasher raised its head and called out again.

"No." At least not if they had any choice, he had called the science division to get someone who would be able treat it.

"Someone has tried to cut the barb off her tail." Wash muttered, joining the group; disgust clear on her face. "Shot twice, one in the shoulder and one in the back."

"It only came here for its hatchlings; put them out there and maybe it will go away." Malcolm's sidekick was still staring at the slasher; clearly both scientists were afraid of it.

In the state it was in he doubted the dinosaur would survive long without help, it's tail, usually a nightmare, was a chief line of defense and offense necessary for hunting. And as vocal as the slasher was it didn't seem eager to attack, it watched and called; searching.

"I'll do it." Alicia Washington murmured, glancing back towards the fence before turning for the rover.

She disappeared, he took a tranq gun and his pistol, firing a couple shots into the air to force the dinosaur back before trying to get a dart into its underbelly. He got a hit and waited, the slasher called out over and over again but staggered backwards and stumbled before dropping onto its side.

Wash reappeared, a heavy med kit slowed her stride; he kept his weapon trained on the slasher as she approached. The dinosaur tried to lift its head to sniff at her, but it was unable to fight the tranq. Wash knelt by its tail and the dinosaur nearly sighed as she slathered a thick cream onto the injured end, it had both antibacterial properties and pain relief; she sprayed a liquid bandage over it all. Then turned her attention to the gunshot wounds, digging the bullets out of its flesh and using more medicated cream and liquid bandage to protect the sites.

As she finished the dinosaur did manage to move its head, knocking her backwards as it cried out; this time small cries replied. Something moved in the underbrush and as Washington scrambled backwards, he raised his aim; waiting for a target; two more hatchlings burst out and raced to their mother.

"They are skinny." Wash murmured as they slid back through the fence, she was moving towards the rover; Malcolm joined them.

"At that age they need to eat small amounts frequently; if she has been unable to hunt…" The man trailed off as Alicia Washington lifted down the young pair of slashers, removing the cover from their cage and a slab of meat. "You cannot be serious."

When let free the two little ones scrambled to rejoin their family, needing help to get through the fence as their mother called desperately to them. The dinosaur tried to lift her head, sniffing them over as they butted her shoulder and climbed over her. Wash glared at Malcolm before sliding through the fence herself.

She kept her distance this time, cutting strips for the young ones first before tossing the last of it to the adult slasher. Nathaniel kept the weapon trained but the tranq was holding, he winced as Wash crossed to the creature and kicked the meat close enough for it to grab; the babies darting in for a little extra. The food was gone in about two bites and as Wash turned back one little slasher came darting towards her; the little female wanting to play.

When it couldn't climb into her lap the young slasher followed her back to the fence; yipping unhappily as it tried to scramble through. Inside the fence she knelt and reached back to pet it, the creature cried in protest each time she stood up. He ignored Malcolm muttering in the background, his attention on the soldier playing with the little slasher; he wasn't so sure it was a matter of attachment that had Wash crouched by the fence.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the long wait guys, I hope you are still a little interested

Chapter Four

That evening she returned to fence, several slabs of meat loaded into the rover this time; a tranq gun on the passenger seat. She nodded to the soldiers in the towers as she parked close to the fence, the two babies she had been feeding played in the clearing; she saw the other two resting in the shade. The mother wouldn't be far.

Alicia set the meat on the ground and slid through the rails, tranq gun ready. That animal was too injured to hunt, and if it died the babies were not likely to survive; the two that knew her already raced forward. A rustling in the jungle told her where the adult was, it had yet to come out. She pulled the first slab of meat through and cut off small pieces for the ones that greeted her, pausing to rub the crest on each of their heads; taking quick glances towards the trees.

Hesitantly the other two were approaching from the shade, clearly unsure of her; she threw pieces to them. The babies were hungry and young enough to be bold, the adult was not; although she knew it had to be just as hungry. She tossed the last of a piece towards the jungle; where she had seen movement a few moments ago.

Squatting she kept one hand on the rifle as the little female tried to climb her again; there were going to be plenty of scratches on her legs to clean tonight. As she started cutting up the second slab, all four babies crowded her, the adult emerged for the first; by the way it was moving she knew it was in pain. It should be attacking given she was handling its young and easy prey; but it only devoured the meat. It was watching her though, making soft clicking noises which the babies responded to; Alicia tossed another large chunk towards it.

The two new babies, both female, retreated to their mother once they had eaten, the little male had discovered he could squirm between her and the fence and was now doing loops as the fourth contentedly curled in her lap. She cut the last slab of meat into chunks and tossed them to the adult, it was dangerous to feed it, but she suspected even more so to let it starve out here.

In the morning she would try to tranq it again and check its wounds, she suspected once it was strong enough to hunt it would disappear; taking its babies with it. Alicia figured its mate must have been killed, otherwise it would not be here alone; slashers tended to mate as juveniles.

Nudging the little female from her lap she ducked back under the fence, watching as the little slasher sniffed after her, waiting a few moments before returning to its mother who sniffed it over carefully before looking at her. The dinosaur had been badly hurt by humans, but she had treated its wounds and handled the babies; it watched her, but it did not attack.

Did it sense that they were different? Slashers were excellent hunters, capable of tracking their prey over long distances, was it waiting for her to let her guard down for an easy meal? If it tried the guards on the towers would likely kill it.

She headed home, a little disappointed at how tired she was given it had been an easy day. Nathaniel had her spend the day reviewing drone footage, there hadn't been too much to find after the first few hours played out; but it did put a few things into place. She had been out to the Badlands, it was a few years ago but it was the only area of desert they knew of in this world; a stark contrast to their tropical home.

Slipping into her unit she cut through the back yard into his, the worn path reminding her how easy the route was; the separate units a show for the colony. He was home, take out containers from the market still steaming with heat as he read a plex. She hung up her jacket and left her boots on the mat next to his, work could not be taken off as easily; he would probably put in a few more hours tonight as he had to do both their jobs. She knew some of her work would become his for awhile but there were other tasks Alicia intended to reclaim.

"Go ahead and eat. Malcolm dropped this off, hoping he can go back to his own research." Nathaniel smirked, gesturing to the plex.

"Is it to do with the Phoenix?" She knew the scientist had likely had a few complaints about her to voice as well; their opinions on the slashers differed.

"The portal. I want to know why they've given up on the one down here. It doesn't make sense unless our little explosion had more of an impact than we realized." He relaxed, setting the plex on the table between them and pushing one container to her before taking the other. She must have been giving him a blank look because he paused. "It was your suggestion actually; we had Shannon blow up the portal on the other side. Stem the flow of reinforcements and supplies. As soon as they learned that it had been blown the Phoenix and the Sixers cleared out and headed north; they found the prow of an old ship out there."

"Does the science division have the background to figure it out?" She asked hesitantly, his son had been brought here on the second pilgrimage to help figure that out and she did remember what had happened between the two.

"Lucas loved to taunt me; he recorded his research on the waterfall. We have all the information, and the equipment to pursue it; it was just a matter of sorting out Lucas' work. Skye tipped me to something that helped there; she used the EYE to help him- when the Sixers had her mother. I pulled the log; between the rocks and that we know everything he does. And we have a lot more people working on it."

Nathaniel explained as they ate, she didn't miss his tells; he hated that his son stood on the opposite side that they did. For them to succeed he had to hope his son would fail. "Malcolm also pulled the preliminary research on the time fracture; it was always fragile on an elemental level. He believes the fracture down here may have been sealed off when Shannon opened it during the explosion. It may still exist in 2149, but it will not come here. The question then becomes whether or not there are any other fractures; and where they originate from."

"Is there any way to know?"

"Yes, we will use the same tests that were used in the future to find the one we used; Engineering will begin constructing a drone with the proper capabilities and we will look. It took about three weeks to complete the original testing in 2134; once we have it built, we should know within a month." He continued as Alicia shifted the plex so that she could read it. Had they realized the possibility of a second portal? Or was it a concept that had been introduced by the Phoenix?

It seemed like something they should know, in the Cretaceous period the land mass was concentrated; it wouldn't shift into separate continents until long after she was dead. She listened as he continued to talk about work, filing details away and using them to fill in the gaps in her own memory.

…

She was awake before dawn, early enough to work out and jog the perimeter before her shift; but she only burrowed into his side. He couldn't say he minded that, although seeing her regain her usual routines would be reassuring.

"Will you watch my back? I need to tranq that slasher again." She dressed quickly, glancing to him as she slid a knife into her boot.

"Are you going to feed them again?" He already knew the answer to the question but waited to see her nod. "The hatchlings let you handle them."

"The one little female especially, but the others are curious." Wash was ready before he was, he could tell she wanted to go see those little Slashers. But the adult was healing, and all of them were getting used to being fed; she'd been doing it a few days now.

As soon as she slid through the slats of the fence the hatchlings came racing towards her and he watched as she kept walking out to meet them. He let her get out a little way and then slid through the fence himself, holding his tranq gun at the ready.

Alicia carried a small pistol herself, but stopped to feed the little ones as they scrambled for their food and after they ate two stayed looking for her attention and two hovered watching for a few moments before joining in. The babies played and circled her knees, his attention stayed on the treeline beyond her; finally, the adult emerged.

It moved cautiously, still hurting, a little it sniffed eagerly, and he felt tension creeping up his spine; Alicia approached it. She held out a slab of meat and when she was within five feet, and she could easily be taken out by tail swing, she tossed the food to it. Holding her ground as it crouched to eat, the babies scrambled back and forth between them.

When it finished eating it paused, tilting its head as it looked at Alicia as if waiting. Alicia took a few steps closer, and he growled as she played with her pistol and then tucked it back in her holster, stepping forward until she could practically reach out and touch it. The Slasher was curious, and seemed at ease, its hatchlings scampered around its feet and it didn't seem to view his wife as a threat.

Suddenly she did reach out for it, and he saw the colored tassel of tranq barb in her hand; punching the barb into its chest. The dinosaur made a chirping sound but did not attack and slowly sunk to its knees. Alicia doubled back to where he was and grabbed her med kit before returning to the creature's side.

She treated its wounds, having a bit of a struggle as the babies crowded around her but when she finished, she sat cross legged beside it. Petting the adult as the babies clambered for her attention, she sat with it until it started to get up. It stumbled a few times but rose and then paused, turning back to her it sniffed Alicia over carefully once again.

When they retreated into the colony the Slashers stayed in the clearing to watch. They went to work but at lunch she disappeared and when he radioed the tower, he found out she was back out there. Over the next two days she went back out every few hours, she stopped asking for help but had attracted the attention of both colonists and her own team. Nathaniel went down to watch and put his own concerns at rest a few times. The adult was recovering but did not seem concerned about letting Alicia handle it or the hatchlings who now played eagerly with her.

It was mid afternoon when he climbed to the tower, Alicia was out there again. Running in circles the four babies chased after her, he watched curiously as she spun one way and then took off another; jogging backwards as she talked to the babies. Suddenly the comms chirped, their spotters had spotted activity out where their crews were resetting perimeter mines again, it was happening more and more.

As he climbed down, assembling a team a chill ran down his spine; the Slasher's distinctive call had them turning back to the fence. He swung back around as Alicia stared into the trees; the adult Slasher had rose and was crossing to take a position between its young and the trees.

But just as quickly the Slasher swung its tail and sent Alicia flying back into the dirt; he heard chatter and shock in the tower. Yet he felt strangely calm, the Slasher had not turned back on her but bolted head long into the trees; Alicia lay still.

"Hold your fire." He ordered sharply, gesturing to two men to flank with him. The babies had curled around the woman laying in the dirt, but he saw her stirring. "Do we have anyone out west of the tower?"

Confirmation rolled in that it wasn't a colonist the Slasher was after and so he left the Slasher to do what it would; he needed to get to his lieutenant. They slid through the fence as Wash started to sit up, getting head butted by a hatchling. But as they approached all four babies remembered they were Slashers and turned on them; yipping and snarling. Alicia looked a little dazed but made to get to her feet, hatchings struggled to decide whether to turn back to her or to keep threatening him and his men.

In the trees they heard the blood curdling screams as the Slasher found what it had been searching for; it had been human. Alicia reached down to stroke one of the little slashers as she stepped past it; into his reach. Nathaniel got a firm grip on her and slid an arm around her middle to take her weight; moving back through the fence.

As his soldier tried to brush him off, he turned to the unit assembled. "Head west, see if you can get close enough to see what the Slasher found; don't fire on it unless you have to."

"Yes sir." The unit began to move out and he glanced back to the hatchlings that now curled against the fence; yipping unhappily. Alicia had pulled away, rubbing her side and looking a little annoyed, she knelt by the fence and reached through to pet the slashers.

But when Dr. Shannon arrived a few moments later he had to pause, the woman looked worried. She approached Wash first, looking a little hesitant about getting so close to the slashers, and then crossed back to him. "I heard she was hit by a slasher tail?"

"Not the barbs, it caught her across the chest; I'm not clear on why." He explained quietly.

"I want to check her out." The doctor stated firmly, and he cast a glanced at the soldier now sitting by the fence; she was tired of being poked and prodded.

"Keep her until I come by, I've a few things to wrap up here but I'll stay with her tonight." She'd had far too many head injuries in her life, the worst one all to recently, a fact he was sure was playing through the doctor's head.

They would have been together either way, but he didn't need the doctor coming up with a way to monitor her. He spent the next hour handling reports, the slasher had found a nest less than a click away on a rocky embarkment. It had been a sniper's nest; the team had found both Sixer and Phoenix possessions. What was left of the men that owned them was buried.

Had that nest been activated civilians would have been as easy prey as soldiers on the fence and patrolling the routes beyond. Clearly something wasn't panning out in the desert, more focus was coming back their way. It wasn't quite time to attack though, he wanted them desperate; the colony had a massive advantage now.

They had developed resources, homes and defenses; they could wait it out. It was simply a matter of stepping up their own security, and that was already in motion. He gave the orders before heading to the infirmary to find Alicia.

A nurse pointed him to the cubicle on the end and as he slipped through the door, he heard the doctor asking questions, but the woman looked concerned. Alicia answered one question quickly, but the doctor's next question had the hairs on the back of his neck rising. "Tell me a little bit about your husband. Was he in the military too?"

His eyes met his wife's and he took a step forward. "Doc."

Did she know? It was in their records, but their identities were carefully buried, no one should be able to find out that they were married to each other. However, the look of concern on the doctor's face had him wondering if she wasn't looking into something else; she drew him to the side. "Is that going to be traumatic memory for her to recall?"

"Where are you going with this Dr. Shannon?" It might be more traumatic for the colony than it would be for them.

"Lieutenant Washington is a strong woman, and a smart one. I know the colonists mean well, so does her unit. But telling her about events, telling her about her life does not necessarily help her recall old memories. I think she may be compiling the information she is given to piece together her past. I haven't been able to find any information on her husband or her marriage, so I assume few here would know enough about him to tell her…" The woman trailed off, eyes focused on him as he cringed internally; he hadn't considered that. And he had told her plenty of their old stories, many people had, he'd been trying to fill in the gaps. But were those gaps in her memories, or gaps in what others had told her?

He stepped around the doctor and crossed to his wife, running through their past for something she would know. "Wash, where did we bury Sammy?"

Nathaniel Taylor swallowed hard, he saw that she recognized the name, but she didn't seem to be able to recall that. He knew she would have, Wash had tried hard to save the man's life, she had helped him dig the war grave when they realized they couldn't carry the body out. Jeffery Samuels was the first man she lost as a medic; it had been during her third mission with the unit.

Lieutenant Samuels had been part of another unit working in the region, they had stumbled upon him, already left for dead as they returned from the field. She'd managed to stabilize the man for transport but when an explosive rolled their rhino, they'd all been banged up; there had been no saving Sammy.

With no operational transport and a long hike home burying the man was kinder than letting his body fall to the enemy or the elements and so they'd lain him in a war grave. Marking the coordinates so that just over a year later he could be recovered from that wasteland that had once been a beautiful Fijian rain forest and properly laid to rest.

He glanced back at the doctor and swallowed hard. "Where did you take Lucas for his tenth birthday?"

He heard the doctor's sharp intake of breath, he wasn't sure the colony realized how personal Lucas' action had been, or the role the woman he tried to kill had in his life. She didn't remember where she took him for that birthday any more than she remembered that Lucas was the one who shot her.

"Its alright Wash." He murmured, his own throat feeling tight, he had wanted her to be well. Watching her with the little slashers, seeing her determined to do things, and working to piece things together; coming back to work. He'd thought she was healing, but had it all been too much too soon?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

He was watching her; he didn't say anything but when the rover stopped outside their units, she slipped into hers and went straight for the shower. She cranked the heat up, stripped out of her clothes and stepped under the spray. She wanted to cry, or scream; or maybe hit something.

She might not be able to remember everything, and maybe some of it would not come back; but she would put together what she needed. Already she had enough to do her job, she had her instincts and her training; she would learn to let go of what was gone.

It was a bitter pill to swallow but she would do what she had to, she was alive, and her body was sound. She would take that, but she would not take the looks if pity, or sadness from others; especially not from her husband. She was not made of glass and she would not break.

Alicia jolted in surprise as the hot water shut off, glaring through the steam as an arm retreated; she jerked the curtain back to find him standing there holding a towel. When she took it, he raised his hands defensively before she said a word. "You need some space, I will give it to you; tell me what you need, and I will do it Wash, you know I will."

"But don't push you away? Don't…" She started coldly; she'd been relieved when he interrupted Dr. Shannon's questions, reassured that he was there; until he was worse.

"Push if you need to, if you want to go a few rounds we can do that; but I do need you." His arm slid around her shoulders, pulling her into his side; but he still looked uneasy. "And we need to go to the fence; the slasher is back, and she's agitated."

Yet it made her grin, he was hating this, it made it much harder to treat her as fragile when he needed her to try to handle a dinosaur. Still he followed her and she saw his wince as she dressed; she felt the bruises too. The slasher hadn't hurt her, it hit her with its powerful tail but the scaled length of it; the barb never touched her.

Somehow, she suspected it had done exactly what it intended to, put her on the ground; when it had started calling all the babies had huddled to the ground immediately. She wasn't sure why, but it had mattered to the creature that she had not taken cover. And as they drew near the fence, she heard the slasher's calls again, it was a different tone this time, they had known the creatures communicated with each other but it sounded as if this one was trying to communicate with them.

Alicia frowned as she swung out of the rover, the soldiers looked uneasy on the fence, each had their weapon at the ready, but the slasher looked furious. It was behaving as though it was trapped, pacing the fence, calling out and spinning to slash at the beams; leaving deep gashes in the wood. It wanted to attack, until it scented the air and came to a halt.

Standing as close as it could on the far side of the fence the slasher stood frozen, its eyes fixed on her. The loud screeching calls stopped, it tilted its head one way and sniffed carefully, then the other and made a soft chattering sound in its throat. Alicia stared right back at it and then took a step forward; and another.

…

His heart pounded in his chest as she approached the predator who had moments ago been attacking the fence. Nathaniel watched her walk right up to the fence, the Slasher watched her and only her; the hatchlings were not in sight. She rested her hands against the rails and the slasher moved forward, dipping its head and sniffing; trying to stuff its snout between the rails.

He swallowed hard as she slid a hand between the slats, she could lose it in an instant if the creature turned on her; but it sniffed that too. And then shoved its head into the rails and made a sound that almost sounded frustrated; Alicia responded by ducking and stepping through the fence.

Nathaniel heard sonics charging as men palmed their weapons, the slasher pivoted around her and nudged her forward; then circled sniffing her carefully from head to toe. Dipping its head to chatter at her again, the same sounds they'd heard it make when calling to its young.

"Amazing." He shifted to find Malcolm Wallace standing at his shoulder. "I think its imprinted on her. It believes she is one of its young, I didn't understand its behavior until now; it searched for her when it returned. I thought it was checking its territory, but it was looking for her."

The slasher rubbed its cheek along her shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance but when she reached out to stroke it the animal leaned into her hand; chattering as if to encourage her. The hatchlings emerged then, darting around, between the slasher's legs and around Wash; one tried to climb her leg. And he watched her eye the adult as she reached down to pick it up, when it was in her arms the slasher pressed its head into her chest; close to them.

"It makes sense, she's handled it, helped it and fed its young; it is used to her scent." Malcolm continued; Nathaniel listened but his focus was on her. "Her scent is on it, on the hatchlings, their sense of smell is more powerful than we ever realized. It can detect her specific scent, not just of a different species, or even unique species but an individual member; that is just incredible."

Perhaps it was, but the slasher was still a predator, wild and deadly; even if it had calmed in her presence. He fully supported the preservation of this world and its creatures wherever possible; however, he didn't necessarily like having his wife standing right next to one.

He'd been getting used to the idea of her handling them, feeding the adult from a distance but now he had to get used to something very different. She didn't talk much over the next few days, at least not about anything beyond work; and whenever he had a few moments he watched her out there.

The hatchlings had hit a growth spurt and soon she would not be able to hold them in her lap or pick them up; not that the one seemed to have any concern about that. In a way Malcolm was right, it was incredible to watch her work with the slashers, the hatchlings played with her, but the adult watched every move she made.

None of them were gentle with her, she was bruised and battered, more so as the little ones kept growing but they didn't hurt her. He had watched as one of the little ones tested its tail, spinning in front of her as if to show off and when Alicia didn't dart back fast enough the edge of the barb sliced her thigh. The adult rose with a screeching call and the hatchling flew back, thrown by the adult's tail.

He knew a few hearts had been pounding in that moment, unsure of what was going to happen; she was bleeding, and the adult was between her and the fence. Nathaniel had eased closer and weapons had charged up in the towers but the young one shook off it's ride and went trotting back to her; shoving its head into her stomach. The adult chattered at them both.

Most days when the hatchlings got tired and retreated to their nest the adult would come to her, it would lay down and let her pet it, at first she had been cautious, always on her feet and ready to back up but this morning he'd seen her sitting at its shoulder; her hand running over its neck and back.

He was hesitant to pull her away, but she was their best sniper and he wanted her eyes out there; he was tasking a short mission out to the quarry. They needed ore, it was valuable to the colony and given the Sixers no longer controlled the quarry it was theirs to take; but he expected trouble.

There had been no issues since the slasher had taken out the sniper's nest in the West; and silence always made him uneasy. At least if they saw activity they knew where their enemy was, and by now they had to know their nest hadn't panned out.

When she noticed him, she rose, giving the dinosaur one last pat before crossing to the fence and ducking through. They might not have talked about her memory, but he knew physically she was well, besides playing with the slashers she was training again; it would be good for her and for her unit to work together again.

"You up for a trip?"

"The quarry today?" She fell in step beside him, it had been discussed at the command meetings the past two days; they'd headed a few patrols that way to prepare.

"Its your op, but you've got Reynolds and Reilly." He knew they were two of her best; she'd likely feel safe leaving the groundwork to them.

"I'll cover them, Reynolds can hold the perimeter and Reilly can run the team." She nodded, climbing into the rover.

He'd been hoping that was what she'd say, the quarry was a vulnerable position to hold, their perimeter had to be tight or they could easily end up facing an opponent on a steep incline; fighting in the wrong direction. Good thing was it was in the side of a mountain, she could make her nest up nice and high; see what was around, see her men, watch their backs and their blind spots.

…

It felt good to ride shot gun again, to wear her body armour and have a job; be trusted to have a job. She rode shotgun with Reilly at the head of the convoy, her rifle in hand as they rolled through the jungle; it made her feel normal.

They wouldn't be gone long; it would take more time to load up the rock than anything else. They weren't going to mine the ore on site, just blast out a vein of it and load the rocks into a rhino; it would be processed on colony.

At the quarry she was dropped off on the outer rim to climb up into the rocks above as the transports started down the rough road into the pit. Alicia wasted no time climbing up to a ledge where she had a steep cliff at her back and a good view on either side; her focus needed to be below.

Fastening the scope to her rifle she stretched out on her belly, eying down the lense, she could pick out each of her men below and watched the perimeter team take their places before switching to a thermal lense for a wider scan.

Her men were red reads, hot blood, there were a multitude of small cold reads, this was leaper territory. The small Compsognathus were omnivores, too small to be anything but a nuisance to humans, eating plants and bugs; the creatures didn't walk or run but bounced. Hence their nickname, in a pinch they'd made good eating for men on long out post assignments when Sixers had hit their supply runs; though they could be hell to catch.

"Reynolds your clear." She murmured into her comm, never taking a hand from the rifle. Her body was in the ready position, calm and cool as she scanned; sliding into the task like it was second nature. Thankful somethings didn't change.

"Copy. Thanks Lt." Reynolds clicked in; he wasn't leaving his comm open.

Her scope never returned to the center of the pit, it didn't matter what her crew was doing, the perimeter team had them covered; her job was the jungle beyond. She scanned wide and on the very edges she was getting larger reads; hot and cold. But at that range the scope was questionable at best, she kept going back, watching any reads bigger than a leaper.

There were a few but none were approaching with any directionality; just creatures passing through. She went back to the periphery a few times; but the read was unreliable and the jungle too thick for a visual. She felt the blast below her before she heard the rumble of the rock slide the explosives had created; work was advancing.

She stayed on alert as time ticked by, something was out there but it was beyond her range; only problem was it was between them and the colony. They could hope it was a pack of some sort, hunting or moving; but she didn't like the way the reads flickered orange every so often.

"We're moving out Wash." Reilly's voice crackled through her comm, the first comment directed to her in the better part of three hours.

"Copy that." Alicia rose, quickly shifting her gear to make the climb back down to the rim.

She climbed back to the jungle floor and movement to her left made her freeze until a head poked through the leaves; one with familiar markings. She choked back a laugh and approached slowly; holding out her hand. "Did you follow me?"

The slasher chattered at her, that sound low in its throat as Alicia rubbed its forehead for a moment. Surprised and a little pleased as it slipped back into the trees as soon as she turned away. They figured out the dinosaur had learned her scent, it wouldn't have been hard to follow.

She climbed into the rover and as they headed for the colony her eyes scanned the trees on either side of the track. She hadn't noticed it was with them on the way out, and even as she looked now, she could not see it near the rover. Out of curiosity she raised her scope, scanning until she found the cold read; the slasher was about a couple hundred feet off the rover on her side. In the jungle the transports had to go slow, the dinosaur kept pace easily; probably able to go much faster if she wanted.

"Something wrong Lt?" Reilly glanced at her, she kept her scope up, watching her shadow.

"No. The slasher followed me. She's about two hundred feet off our left flank right now." She glanced down the scope yet again, watching the heat signature move.

"Your going to keep her then?" Reilly asked, and she nodded; she didn't think she had much choice in it. The slasher had claimed its territory beyond the fence and clearly kept track of her. "Maybe you should give her a name then?"

"Whiskey." Alicia murmured.

"For the drink?" One of the men in the back replied. "How about something cool like Destroyer, or Reaper?"

As the others chimed in Alicia shook her head, speaking to herself more than any of them. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. WTF, after everything that's happened this year I've got her."

"You've got a pet slasher, five of them." Reilly laughed, having heard her words as the men discussed the merits of Kamikaze and Torpedo.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Over the next few weeks Alicia settled back into a routine, paperwork, training her unit and spending time with the slashers. The babies had hit a growth spurt and were nearly taller than her now, not that it stopped Gunner from trying to play or River from invading her space for attention. Sarge and Ivy were a little more independent, though Sarge seemed to like Nathaniel.

However, when she ran the perimeter in the evening, now beyond the fence, five slashers trotted with her. Whenever she ran ops off colony they were around, seeming to understand that should keep their distance from her team while surprising her at will. But they were handy, Whiskey had taught her babies to hunt and together the little family was a formidable pack, they hadn't had a predator incident since the slashers took up residence.

Slowly the colony was adjusting, though still fearful of the dinosaurs that had claimed a section of their perimeter; that section was strictly off limits. It wasn't something she had thought to specify until an idiot had tried to pet River, the gentlest of the slashers who loved it when she stroked her had snapped her jaws and hissed; cornering the fool against the fence. It could have been much worse had she not been on her way out there.

It had served as a message, the slashers were still predators, they might be as gentle as they could with her, but they could and would kill. Had it been Sarge or Whiskey that idiot would not be around to tell his story. The slashers could be gentle, but they had to pick their people, she had introduced her husband and Sarge had gradually warmed to him; looking for him when she came alone.

Whisky and River were tightly bonded to her, but she had been introducing the slashers to her team, she fully understood their reservations about approaching the dinosaurs. But they needed to know the slashers, well enough to identify them by their markings and she wanted the slashers to know their scents; to associate them with her.

This afternoon she had Reilly with her, the Corporal was her friend and had been out several times before; but today Ivy and River burst from the jungle together. River came racing up to her in greeting and she saw Whiskey shifting in the nest, Sarge and Gunner were more interested in their nap, Ivy circled them; eyeing the woman who stood a pace behind her.

As Ivy came forward to give her a sniff Alicia glanced to the explosives expert. "Hold your ground, she is just curious."

"Its different when its you she wants to look at." Reilly murmured, but didn't flinch as the dinosaur sniffed her carefully, easing closer.

Alicia nodded, but her train of thought was interrupted as River headbutted her hard, demanding her attention. She rubbed the dinosaur's forehead and moved a little way away to sit before River knocked her over; the slasher did not fully understand how much she had grown.

"Walk away from her." Alicia instructed, her eyes still on the soldier who Ivy was watching.

The soldier turned and slowly walked away, showing the dinosaur her back and waiting for a reaction, Ivy followed. The dinosaur followed, at first giving a little space and then moving closer, studying the way the woman moved and sniffing her some more; finally, the slasher reached out and nudged Reilly.

…

For the colony the first war of this world was beginning to become a memory, repairs were made, and their community pushed on. The agricultural sector was replanted, and harvest began in the sections that survived as new construction was developed. The security force remained acutely aware of the threat on their borders, but the civilians continued living.

Nathaniel did not want to see them fear again, he coordinated regular patrols out to the badlands with Guzman's unit and far too often they ran into raiding parties headed south. He knew his wife was reading the same reports he was; they both knew something was coming.

The harshness of this world had reduced their enemies' numbers somewhat, but they had not found what they were looking for; they did not have the resources to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. He had seen too much war, but the consequences of this one were different and lasting.

He suspected one of the reasons his wife enjoyed spending the time she did with the slashers was that they were new. She could work with them without being reminded of the past, there were still moments when he knew it was hard for her to face the colony, to look to him and grit her teeth as someone asked a question about her, about something she had known. Civilians would ask how she was or kids who she had trained to survive here would come running up and he saw the blank, angry look flash through her eyes; he knew she could not remember their names or what pilgrimage they had come on.

Nathaniel had learned to be careful in how he prompted her, she needed the chance to recall it for herself, and sometimes she surprised them both; but otherwise he offered her tools rather than answering for her. It was a technique the doctor had taught him; they both had upset her more than once trying to help; but his wife feared being helpless more than she did a gap in her memory.

Physically she was back, training and working, she was happier being out of the Command Center, even off colony. He let her do it, she did more than her share of the paperwork; what was left was his problem. But he couldn't deny being a little envious at how she could process hers in the morning, today she had taken off to run drills with her unit.

He was trying to process the requests from the science division, he rejected several flat out; Malcolm wanted to research the ship's prow left in their storage pods. That was not going to happen, he did not have the security members to spare for such an operation; not to mention the scientists infuriated his lieutenants.

As Shannon entered and crossed to the cam screen, calling up a side gate Nathaniel glanced up at the man's cough. "Did you authorize a science expedition today?"

"No." He growled; he had spent most of his day reading through the science divisions requests. He'd approved only a handful and none for today.

"They left three hours ago during shift change." Shannon rubbed his forehead as he paused the playback; Nathaniel saw the towers were empty.

"Where the hell is Malcolm Wallace?" Nathaniel snarled, watching a rhino roll through the gates; Science Division was clearly stamped on the rear panel.

"They haven't checked in." The man murmured and he turned to look at him; Maddie Shannon worked in the lab. "Maddie told me; she is worried. He's got apprentices on that team."

It was his turn to pinch the bridge of his nose, that idiot had taken kids OTG without a security detail; without a route map. As Shannon pulled up perimeter cams, he got on the radio, calling Wash back to Command and asking for Guzman's location. With one hand he flipped through the stack of plexes he had been working on, looking at the subject lines and the dates.

He was almost to the bottom of the pile before he came up with one that had been submitted on Monday; it was for today. Growling he opened the file, there was supposed to be a two-week window; nothing should have proceeded without his approval.

Wash stood in the doorway, two of her corporals hovered on the porch as she strode towards him; the question in her eyes. "Malcolm's taken a team OTG without an escort, we don't have a known location yet."

She frowned, reaching for the plex and quickly clicking through it, showing him the expedition brief and the submission date; they'd had this request for two days. The science division had gone out to collect specimens of a plant they wanted to investigate, as well as collect another used in various applications throughout the colony; neither project was particularly urgent.

Moving to the map they eyed the area they knew the plants grew and based on the fact they had taken the agricultural gate, a gate that civilians passed through hundreds of time a day Malcolm was aware that he did not have permission. Nathaniel tracked the easiest route with his fingers and saw Wash frown next to him.

"That's two, two and half hours out on a good day." She muttered, the thick jungle meant even the road through there was rough, transports moved at a crawl once they cleared the colony's fields.

"We've got a bigger problem." Shannon cut in, there was dread in his voice.

They turned to watch the screen, a perimeter cam had picked up the rhino and they watched it roll by; an hour later two motorcycles followed, stopping to examine the tracks; a rover came after that. Nathaniel only clenched his jaw; those weren't their transports.

The head of the science division's pigheaded stubbornness may have just killed civilians. His wife was already in motion behind him, taking down her rifle from lock up and extra rounds. "Shannon we each take a transport, pick your team; Wash with me; I need your eyes."

"I've got Reynolds and Reilly on standby." Wash said, slinging the strap of her rifle across her back and hooking the weapon to her hip.

Guzman was off colony, but they needed the best teams they had out there, but they needed some coordination here. He nodded to Wash, they would leave Reilly in charge; the woman could handle the pressure and run logistics for them.

"Let's move." Nathaniel ordered, there was no time to debate it.

He took her to fill two slots, Wash was a damn good medic and sniper, she preferred to ride shotgun in a convoy, watching through her scope as they moved. But as they paused, waiting as the gate rose, he saw colonists in the fields shifting and a pack of slashers came trotting through the fields; stopping short of the gates.

"Uh Wash, want to call off your dinosaurs?" Shannon asked over the com, the slashers peered curiously at the transports.

She swung down from the back of their transport; she'd been lining up her sights through a rear window. Approaching the slasher, she frowned, the creature chattered at her as two others crowded close to her; it no longer alarmed him as much as it once had.

Suddenly she shifted, placing a hand on the creature's shoulder and stepping onto the curve of its hind leg; swinging onto its back. They stared as the slasher spun and Wash shifted onto its back, using her legs to hold on and leaning into its shoulder before it took off.

And he watched in amazement as the slasher took off, the four younger ones fell in and quickly disappeared, they followed but he did not spot the slashers again. Time ticked on, they covered ground as fast as possible, but he knew they had a distinct disadvantage; they were hours behind.

Yet as they heard distant gunfire he frowned, there was only one person who had gone ahead of them; but his wife had five slashers with her. And he'd seen Wash make some incredible shots, but now she had slashers, she might not need a miracle shot; just a good one.

They knew how effective slashers were as predators, they'd lost plenty of good people to the vicious dinosaurs. Yet today a few fought for them, and as they rolled into the clearing, he stared at the carnage of a battle lost before it began.

The slashers circled the clearing, and the transports they had destroyed; Wash still sat on a slasher's back. The Phoenix soldiers who had attempted to abduct their people had died quickly and violently; one was now a young slasher's snack.

Their soldiers moved hesitantly to take formation and make a perimeter, the scientists sat mercifully silent as Nathaniel crossed to his wife. Brown eyes were flat and cool as she watched the situation unfold. "You alright?"

"One of the scientists is injured, its not critical and we have one prisoner; the driver has not left the vehicle." She reported, keeping her weapon trained on the driver.

"Good work." He murmured and patted the slasher's shoulder before squeezing her knee for a moment; then turning back to the job in front of them.

 _Epilogue_

Alicia shifted herself on Whiskey's back, she had climbed onto the slasher's back more than once before that day they raced through the jungle to retrieve their civilians; but it was as if the slasher had known how to carry her. Two months later she was not the only one bonded to a slasher and the day had come to launch their assault against the Phoenix force marching south.

Today they had to turn them back, they claimed the lands south of the Badlands for Terra Nova, for the world they had come back here to build. The one they had already fought to protect, today they rode with an advantage the Phoenix had never considered; one they had never considered.

Looking to her right as they raced through the jungle she still shivered in awe, the slasher beneath her raised it voice in a call that had once been chilling. Today it was the battle call, Whiskey was a dominant slasher, and relatively domesticated; but her instincts remained. She hunted her prey and called others to her side, spread through the jungle a pack of slashers ran with them.

She caught glimpses of other riders as they closed on their enemy's march, Nathaniel rode Sarge, Reilly rode Ivy, Reynolds rode River and Shannon was trying to ride Gunner. The slashers ran with them by choice, if they had rolled a convoy out to face this threat Whiskey and her young would have come too and attacked, trying to help.

So they hit that convoy with full force. Alicia sat up; a leather strap wrapped around Whisky's chest gave her grip as she used her legs to hold herself in place; lifting her pistol. The slashers tore through the convoy, tails smashing windows and throwing men from motorcycles; others grabbed and pulled through windows and out of rovers. The Terra Novans raised their weapons and did all they could to protect their mounts and the slashers Whiskey had called to fight with them; fighting even though this war was between men.

Yet the dinosaurs had every reason to fight with them, it was not only the colony that would be destroyed if the Phoenix won this war; this place would be strip mined. Instead they fought in a way never seen before, one only possible in this new world man and dinosaur finally fought together, they fought for a different way of life.

End

Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story; and to Nick for the request.


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